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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Salt Lake City man who ran a business called U.S. Marshals Salvage has been charged with impersonation of a U.S. marshal and bank fraud, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Andrew A. Costa, 41, has no connection to the U.S. Marshals Service, but he is accused of telling people he was a federal marshal and of handing out business cards with a five-point star similar to the U.S. marshal insignia, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Costa used the business cards and other documents containing the star insignia to create the impression he was associated with the federal agency, James Phelps, supervisory deputy of the Salt Lake City office of the Marshals Service, said in an affidavit filed with the complaint last week.
Costa is accused of carrying out the deception from about January to August and of depositing fraudulently obtained money in a credit union account. He is accused of accepting $22,000 for a truck he had repossessed, Phelps said in court documents.
Bank fraud carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
He is also charged with illegal possession of marshal insignia and unlawful use of the marshal name.
Costa could not immediately be reached for comment. There is no telephone listing in his name in the Salt Lake City area.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
